Seacom picks Juniper, Cisco to boost network

Employees from the Enterprise General Malta Forest (EGMF) lay an underground metro-politan fibre optic cable along the Nkrumah Road, Nairobi.

What you need to know:

  • Mark Tinka, the telco’s head of engineering says the new infrastructure will enable it to provide a wider range of Ethernet-driven products and services to network operators and service providers.

Seacom, a global network service provider with footprints in the region, has chosen Juniper and Cisco to upgrade its global network.

The two firms will be tasked with the overhaul of Seacom’s Internet Protocol (IP) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) as it seeks to provide a higher quality network platform.

Mark Tinka, the telco’s head of engineering says the new infrastructure will enable it to provide a wider range of Ethernet-driven products and services to network operators and service providers.

“This new infrastructure is 100 per cent Ethernet-focused, which will be great for our customers in having the confidence and flexibility to very easily deploy, scale and grow their networks and services,” he said on Thursday.

ADDRESSES RAN OUT

The infrastructure boost will also see Seacom accelerate the adoption and integration of IPv6 for its customers, in a world where global IPv4 addresses have run out as well as enhance its Remote Peering service across Africa, Europe, the Asia Pacific and North America.

Seacom was established in 2007 by a group of African investors with the objective of bringing the global Internet to Africa. 

Two years later, it launched the first broadband submarine cable system along the East African coastline linking South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique with major Internet connection hubs in Europe and Asia.

“The new network will further offer us improved levels of operational efficiency and scalability, easing administration and providing a growth path for the future,” added Mr Tinka.